FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT MEGA MILLIONS - PAGE 4

ATLANTA , March 30 (Reuters) - Buzz is building around the largest lottery jackpot in world history -- now up to $640 million -- as the Mega Millions drawing took place in Atlanta late on Friday night. Buyers lined up this week in 42 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands to purchase $1 tickets for the Mega Millions lottery. The winning numbers, announced in a drawing held in Atlanta , were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and Mega Ball 23. In most participating states, tickets were on sale Friday night until just 15 minutes before the drawing, lottery officials said.

CHICAGO, April 16 (Reuters) - The third winner of the record $656 million Mega Millions lottery prize has come forward and will be presented with a check at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Illinois lottery officials said on Monday. "Respecting the privacy of the winner, we cannot release their name or personal information until then," lottery officials said. The drawing for the record-breaking jackpot was March 30. It is worth $158 million before taxes if taken in a lump sum, or $218.6 million if taken in 26 annual payments.

(Updates with a winner in Baltimore) By David Beasley ATLANTA, March 31 (Reuters) - The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history totaling $640 million has at least one winner and officials were waiting early on Saturday to see if there are other winning tickets. Maryland lottery officials announced that a winning ticket was purchased at a store in Baltimore County, though they had not identified the winner yet. "This is truly remarkable and historic," said Maryland lottery director Stephen Martino.

By David Beasley ATLANTA, March 31 (Reuters) - Officials drew the numbers for a record jackpot of $640 million in the Mega Millions lottery on Friday night, but had yet to announce the winners - or single lucky winner. The winning numbers, announced at the drawing in Atlanta, were 2-4-23-38-46 and Mega Ball 23. It was expected to take hours to identify the winner or winners due to the sheer number of the $1 tickets sold. Odds of winning the entire jackpot are 175 million to one, said Margaret DeFrancisco, president and chief executive of the Georgia Lottery Corporation.

With the Mega Millions jackpot sitting at a record $540 million for this evening's drawing, the Illinois Lottery could not have picked a better time to launch online purchasing. But there are nerves that come with starting a new system under such intense attention, Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said. "We are obviously at a period of the highest demand possible," he said. "We will have to see how it plays out. " The Illinois Lottery began online sales Sunday. As of 3 p.m. Thursday, $425,000 worth of lottery tickets - most of them Mega Millions - had been purchased online, according to the lottery.

While the recession has quelled the appetite for casino gambling, the wagering public continues to seek cheap thrills in the form of state lottery tickets, according to state sales projections. The Illinois Lottery expects $2.2 billion in gross sales in the fiscal year ending June 30, an increase of about 5 percent over the previous year and the seventh consecutive year of rising sales. "Lottery's a dollar — it's like buying a lipstick during a recession versus a whole new outfit," said Jodie Winnett, acting superintendent.

The Illinois Lottery is breaking new ground Sunday with the start of online ticket sales, a first by a U.S. state. Illinois residents 18 and older will be able to use their computers or phones to buy tickets for Mega Millions and Lotto games at the lottery website, illinoislottery.com, starting at 7 a.m. On Saturday, Michael Jones, Illinois Lottery superintendent, said he sees Internet sales as a way to boost overall ticket purchases, and...

The Illinois Lottery is breaking new ground Sunday with the start of online ticket sales, a first by a U.S. state lottery. State residents ages 18 and up will be able to use their computers or phones to buy tickets for the Mega Millions and Lotto games at the lottery website, www.illinoislottery.com, starting at 7 a.m. On Saturday, Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said he sees Internet sales as a way to boost overall ticket purchases...

The Legislature has yet to approve the idea, but the two major multistate lotteries are eager to sign up Texas to gain access to an estimated $436 million in annual gambling dollars for such games. Nationwide figures show that sales of multistate game tickets have been disappointing in some states. But there is no doubt that huge jackpots have helped the bottom lines of participating states. Currently, 33 states and the District of Columbia are members of either Powerball or Mega Millions.

Officials waited Saturday for the winner of at least $230 million in the Mega Millions lottery to come forward. The ticketholder will be the biggest winner in the game's history. The winning ticket matched all five lottery numbers and the Mega Ball number to win the 11-state jackpot. The numbers drawn Friday were: 1, 13, 20, 21 and 30; the Mega Ball was 24. On Saturday, lottery officials were tallying the final jackpot, driven higher than $230 million by bigger-than-expected Friday sales, said Penelope Kyle, Virginia Lottery director.